Hollow Knight: Silksong is a great game that's both lengthy and rewarding. Movement and combat feel very fluid, stylish, and responsive. The Bloodborne-style offense-focused combat (where you must deal damage to heal) fits the game well. The map is diverse and interconnected, with numerous discoverable shortcuts and secret passages.

I know there's been a lot of discussion about whether the game is too difficult. It's high skill cap and certainly not easy, but as someone with experience with Soulslikes, I wouldn't say it's overly difficult. I think Silksong's level of difficulty is appropriate and I hope it remains unchanged. The bosses are extremely generous with their telegraphs and the player has access to a built-in heal, so at worst, it felt "tough but fair". There's a grand total of one boss that I thought was poorly designed (Groal the Great), and one that frustrated me with its difficulty (Lost Lace). I used the Wanderer's Crest for pretty much the entirety of my playthrough.

My only complaints are the number of low-effort "kill waves of normal enemies" gauntlet rooms, and quest design that often asks you to backtrack to areas you've already cleared to search for objects or to kill a certain number of enemies (these quests should've been available at the start of your exploration).

I don't tend to notice a video game's music, but there are some great tracks here, with "Cogwork Core" being the standout as far as I'm concerned.

For $20, Hollow Knight: Silksong is a no-brainer.

[i]Hollow Knight: Silksong[/i] is a great game that's both lengthy and rewarding. Movement and combat feel very fluid, stylish, and responsive. The Bloodborne-style offense-focused combat (where you must deal damage to heal) fits the game well. The map is diverse and interconnected, with numerous discoverable shortcuts and secret passages. I know there's been a lot of discussion about whether the game is too difficult. It's high skill cap and certainly not easy, but as someone with experience with Soulslikes, I wouldn't say it's overly difficult. I think [i]Silksong[/i]'s level of difficulty is appropriate and I hope it remains unchanged. The bosses are extremely generous with their telegraphs and the player has access to a built-in heal, so at worst, it felt "tough but fair". There's a grand total of one boss that I thought was poorly designed ([spoiler]Groal the Great[/spoiler]), and one that frustrated me with its difficulty ([spoiler]Lost Lace[/spoiler]). I used the [spoiler]Wanderer's Crest[/spoiler] for pretty much the entirety of my playthrough. My only complaints are the number of low-effort "kill waves of normal enemies" gauntlet rooms, and quest design that often asks you to backtrack to areas you've already cleared to search for objects or to kill a certain number of enemies (these quests should've been available at the start of your exploration). I don't tend to notice a video game's music, but there are some great tracks here, with "Cogwork Core" being the standout as far as I'm concerned. For $20, [i]Hollow Knight: Silksong[/i] is a no-brainer.